Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

612 • SANDINISTASStates in the period 1982–1992, in which Christian congregationswould use their church property to house illegal immigrants purportedlyfleeing political violence in Central America. More recently,major U.S. cities that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE) officials in identifying or detaining illegalaliens have come to be known as “sanctuary cities.”SANDINISTAS (FSLN). The Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacionalis a Marxist-Leninist political party that overthrew the dictatorshipof Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979 and attempted to createa Marxist-Leninist state in Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990. Before itsrise to power, the FSLN maintained ties with the Popular Frontfor the Liberation of Palestine and afterward established close tieswith Libya and Iran, both known to have been state sponsors ofterrorism. The FSLN enjoyed the support of Cuba and also CostaRica prior to gaining power. Following the revolution the UnitedStates became the foremost donor of financial aid to Nicaragua untilmid-1981, when it became apparent that the Sandinistas had becomeinvolved in supporting the Communist insurgency in El Salvador.Afterward the Soviet Union and Cuba remained the primary sponsorsof the FSLN, while Libya also lent military aid.The National Liberation Front was founded on 23 July 1960 inHonduras by Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, and Tomás BorgeMartínez. The name Sandinista was adopted in 1962 to honor AugustoCésar Sandino, the nationalist general who had fought the U.S.Marines in the 1920s, before being killed by National Guard chiefAnastasio Somoza García in 1934. The FSLN made sporadic attemptsat starting a rural insurgency in the 1960s and early 1970s, withoutmuch success. On 27 December 1974, 13 FSLN members intendingto take U.S. Ambassador Turner Shelton hostage crashed a Christmasparty given in his honor, only to find he had left. Nonetheless theyseized 25 hostages, including the Nicaraguan foreign minister as wellas several businessmen and cronies of Anastasio Somoza Debayle.Negotiations through Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo gainedthe release of the hostages in exchange for safe passage to Cuba, $1million in cash, and the release of 14 imprisoned Sandinistas.Disagreements among the Sandinistas in 1975–1977 led to theirbreakup into three factions, one led by Jaime Wheelock Roman, anotherled by Tomás Borge, and another led by the Ortega brothers.